Wanderers pathway partner Nepean Football Association hosted a night of education for grassroots coaches to help them develop players and deliver learning experiences whilst playing football.
The Grassroots Expo is an event promoted by FFA for local associations to encourage coaches to attend courses and obtain relevant qualifications.
The Nepean Football Association has many great grassroot coaching courses and opportunities for aspiring coaches available with 300 coaches per year om average completing a course.
The Expo is mandatory for coaches in the Nepean region and provides them with a night of ideas on how to run sessions making it both safe and fun but most importantly to make it look like football.
“We are trying to promote more grassroot coaches having qualifications,” said NFA Football Manager James Rankine.
“Between the ages of five and seven our Association has wanted all those coaches to hold a grassroots coaching qualification.”
The Expo provided coaches with an understanding on how children learn, the new way of thinking and all the latest information from the FFA and overseas on how they can model their sessions.
“If we can achieve all of this with the coaches then the players have an increased football experience as it is more fun and there is more football learning happening,” said Rankine.
“There is also no isolated activity and long lines for kids waiting their turn to do something.
“We are really looking to encourage and promote game-based learning and if we can do that we get kids and coaches staying involved in the game for so much longer.”
By hosting such expos for coaches to receive qualifications, Rankine hopes that this puts an end to the large turnover of coaches every year in grassroots football which is common in associations all over Australia.
“Research behind this is that the coaches feel stressed and overwhelmed by having to come up with all these ideas,” he said.
“With these courses we take that all away and there is less pressure.
“The resources are openly available for them.”
For more information on Grassroots Football qualifications through the Nepean Football Association click here.
